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Well, countries like Norway aren't exactly famed for clinging to religious values. It is true that not having a massive immigration phenomenon helps, but they do their own thing: they're very inclusive, at the very least with their own citizens. Meaning you can love Norwegian traditions and be openly gay and proud, no-one will frown upon you for that reason (you'll find people who dislike homosexuality everywhere in the world, but in Scandinavia intolerance of other people's choices is not condoned by society). A society that just lets you be is a happy one because it can rely on your cooperation, and you're happy because you are, freely and openly. It's a win-win situation.
Let me know when they embrace plural marriages. You are making the claim that because Norway isn't religious it is happier, please provide evidence of a correlation. You know countries like Norway are not exactly famed for their huge Latvian population maybe that is why they are happier. It makes as much sense as the religious argument. However I do agree that if our government would let us be instead of constantly picking our pockets we would be a lot happier.
Last edited by shorebaby; 05-12-2009 at 09:07 AM..
Let me know when they embrace plural marriages. You are making the claim that because Norway isn't religious it is happier, please provide evidence of a correlation. You know countries like Norway are not exactly famed for their huge Latvian population maybe that is why they are happier. It makes as much sense as the religious argument. However I do agree that if our government would let us be instead of constantly picking our pockets we would be a lot happier.
Well I don't know about "plural marriages", but same-sex marriage has been legal for a few months (civil unions for gay people had been legal since the early 90's).
On the other hand, I never said they were happy because they weren't particularly religious. I think you can be both religious and inclusive of others, happy, unhappy and whatever fits. I said Norway is a traditional country, not a religious one (just in case religion was thought as implied in Scandinavian traditions, which of course may be, but very slightly, and old pagan traditions and Christianism alike), and their conservatism doesn't necessarily exclude sexual minorities nor are their values the faithful reflection of a Christian moral code. In fact, it has little to do with a traditional view of sex and marriage at all. I said they're happy because they're inclusive of their own people, which (to me, and I explained why I thought that) is a sign of a healthy society and adds to everybody's happiness.
Do socialist countries allow their citizens to stay on government aid for generations at a time? It seems socialism would never work if everyone except the truly disabled were exempt from participating in the labour. Do the socialist countries that have UHC require everyone to pay? Because, again, I can't see how we could sustain the sheer number of unwilling workers. What is the teen pregnancy rates in these countries where socialism is so great? How about drug use? Obesity? Laziness? It seems to me that socialism could never work in America because we have too many who would rely on a few to do the work needed to sustain the country.
In the words of the great Margaret Thatcher..."the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money"
I cannot answer your questions, but they are good.
Someday, when I become a world traveller, I might be able to interview people and ask them such questions.
It would seem as though a small nation with a population of the same mindset would have the most success with this.
Some of those countries are becoming very upset with foreigners, now that I think of it.
I, for one, do not distrust my fellow citizens as much as I do the politicians, who are bought and paid for by the financial institutions, and they almost must be to get enough money for re-election campaigns.
Durbin is now a partial sponsor of a bill that would allow a path to public support of campaigns, but it is voluntary and if a person can raise more money by licking the boots of business, why should he take part in a public sponsored program? It would have to be mandatory or its just dumb to my mind.
The politicians get a new pension every time they get voted in for another term. They get great health care. Why should they care about the rest of us?
People are becoming bankrupt by medical bills, even when they have coverage. That is totally unacceptable to me. THese are people who work.
Yeah. Maybe we should put people in different categories. If you worked your way through college and were not young and single and pregnant and had good grades, or if you were employed for more than a specified number of years - I don't know - maybe people, if poor neighbourhoods had decent schools so every kid had a shot at bettering his life - maybe people who show that they put some effort into contributing to the world around them should be the ones whom the system will offer the most help to. There must be some way to get all of us on the bandwagon to improve the economy and also to help each other when we fall.
Who is defensive? But I believe it is you who are defensive. No one is denying that Canada has a lot to offer. I understand Canadians have an inferiority complex living in our shadow. But I was pointing out that there are reasons other than socialized medicine that may make people in those countries happy.
Again when you point to countries like Norway, they are about as homogeneous as you can get. They can build consensus because they share similar values, culture, heritage etc. When you have a country such as the US which is a vast melting pop of people from different backgrounds, traditions and values it is going to be hard to make majorities happy.
You are making a large leap when you say when the US recognizes gay marriage there will be separation of church and state. There are many reasons for not favoring gay marriage other than religious. I am not particularly religious but oppose gay marriage. It would be like saying Canada is in the grip of religious fanatics because it out laws plural marriages.
LOL defensive because you seemingly want to be on the happy list, if not sorry. As for me being defensive, I was responding to your accusation about the military side of things. So Defensive NO, frustrated by some Americans ignorance YES. Some of you have a tendency to be dismissive of anything not American and you assume everyone and everything revolves around the U.S. You are the type of person who would brag about having a 10inch penis i presume. However, your partner isn't necessarily going to be happy with it.a1
Inferiority complex? Living in your shadow, yeah Canadians get up everyday bummed out that we don't have F-22's - GET REAL. You don't know alot of Canadians, if anything it is a slight superiority complex but we are humble people though, and we are on the happy list lol - try some B.C or Ontario Pot the best in the world. Canadian cities are consistently on high quality of life indexes year after year and we are proud of the way of life we have. As for being homogenous - we simply are NOT Canada is more a melting pot than the U.S but you probably can't see past the ignorance of the shudders around your head. I've been to the U.S many times, you obviosly haven't been to Canada. So we are proud of our nation and its accomplishment in many arenas, but we don't do so - generally at the expense of other nations as you seemingly like to do in your smugness.
As for gay rights and marriage, the Superior Court in Canada deemed denying homosexuals the right to marry was unconstitutional and not based on sound legal principles. I'm proud of that and think the barrier to allowing gay rights is rooted in religious dogma, something Canada has clearly pushed back into the church. Something your country has not done, though you're getting there
You have a great country and its been the most remarkable in the last 150 years, but just because of this, doesn't mean you are anointed the greatest place in the world to live and with all due respect, you don't top all lists - there is going to be trade offs. There are other countries in the world,where the citizenry is very proud and patriotic. Canada is one of them - sorry buddy - we've grown up - it is time for you to do the same and chip off the arrogance.
Last edited by mississauga75; 05-12-2009 at 03:30 PM..
LOL defensive because you seemingly want to be on the happy list, if not sorry. As for me being defensive, I was responding to your accusation about the military side of things. So Defensive NO, frustrated by some Americans ignorance YES. Some of you have a tendency to be dismissive of anything not American and you assume everyone and everything revolves around the U.S. You are the type of person who would brag about having a 10inch penis i presume. However, your partner isn't necessarily going to be happy with it.a1
Inferiority complex? Living in your shadow, yeah Canadians get up everyday bummed out that we don't have F-22's - GET REAL. You don't know alot of Canadians, if anything it is a slight superiority complex but we are humble people though, and we are on the happy list lol - try some B.C or Ontario Pot the best in the world. Canadian cities are consistently on high quality of life indexes year after year and we are proud of the way of life we have. As for being homogenous - we simply are NOT Canada is more a melting pot than the U.S but you probably can't see past the ignorance of the shudders around your head. I've been to the U.S many times, you obviosly haven't been to Canada. So we are proud of our nation and its accomplishment in many arenas, but we don't do so - generally at the expense of other nations as you seemingly like to do in your smugness.
As for gay rights and marriage, the Superior Court in Canada deemed denying homosexuals the right to marry was unconstitutional and not based on sound legal principles. I'm proud of that and think the barrier to allowing gay rights is rooted in religious dogma, something Canada has clearly pushed back into the church. Something your country has not done, though you're getting there
You have a great country and its been the most remarkable in the last 150 years, but just because of this, doesn't mean you are anointed the greatest place in the world to live and with all due respect, you don't top all lists - there is going to be trade offs. There are other countries in the world,where the citizenry is very proud and patriotic. Canada is one of them - sorry buddy - we've grown up - it is time for you to do the same and chip off the arrogance.
I think you are the person with a chip on his/her shoulder. I said I thought Canada was a fine country, I couldn't care less where the US ranks on this list. I was merely trying to debunk the premise of the original poster that socialized medicine made the countries on the list happier. And because of the nature of the population of our country and our responsibilities in the world we would never be on that list.
This anti-religious bigotry by people in this forum is tiresome what is worse is the inability of posters to recognize it. There are plenty of reasons to be against same sex marriages that have nothing to do with religion.
I think you are the person with a chip on hi/her shoulder. I said I thought Canada was a fine country, I couldn't care less where the US ranks on this list. I was merely trying to debunk the premise of the original poster that socialized medicine made the countries on the list happier. And because of the nature of the population of our country and our responsibilities in the world we would never be on that list.
This anti-religious bigotry by people in this forum is tiresome what is worse is the inability of posters to recognize it. There are plenty of reasons to be against same sex marriages that have nothing to do with religion.
C'mon buddy, you said we live in your shadow. As if that isn't going to spark some nationalistic outrage. Where I'm from, thats talking down to a friend!
C'mon buddy, you said we live in your shadow. As if that isn't going to spark some nationalistic outrage. Where I'm from, thats talking down to a friend!
I'm tired of bigots too lol.
I see now there is Canadian bigotry? Now I have heard everything.
The one thing that people aren't taking into consideration is the size of each country. If my country was the size of Conn. or Florida then it's alot easier to govern and set rules and laws for.It also is easier to make your country attractive for tourism because you can see alot more in a smaller timeframe as opposed to seeing alot of the U.S. in 2 weeks.
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